Better Late.....

Thursday, 6:30 AM – Almaty , Kazakhstan

We were very excited to get out of Karaganda yesterday AM.  The trip to the airport was…well, a trip.  Although it did not look bad and there was not new snow, the blowing was pretty bad.  The road from the city to the airport is a pretty straight shot but it is through the “country”.  (When I say “country” I use that term as to mean as much of the countryside we ever saw.)  It is very flat (thus adding to the blustery conditions) and the housing in this area….well, it is a sight to see to say the least.  We saw one car that had spun completely around and into a light pole.  It took 2 cars to get us to the airport…hey, you can’t travel light for a MONTH!  Since we arrived in Karaganda at night we did not really get a good look at the airport.  This is one NICE airport.  There are not many (if any) places to get food, magazines, etc but it is a very nice facility.  We had been told the opposite before we got here.  Well, they have remodeled recently so….We of course had to pay the fee for the additional bags at the airport. 

Our flight had already been delayed 40 min.  We said good bye to our translator and driver….I asked our translator at least 5 times if she would make sure to stop in room 3 to check on our kids….”Yes, Elizabeth!” (Of course I can’t type the way she says my name but….)  It was somewhat strange to think we have spent the last 3 weeks with these two people, that our interpreter was one of the first people to meet our kids, and we will never see them again.  We have no way of contacting her although she will probably see our updates as we send them the next 18 years….

Once we were finally on the plane we were delayed due to a “disabled” plane on the runway in Almaty….uh oh.  Of course I was wondering if it was weather related (which we found out later was not the issue!)  The plane was not nearly as crowded as when we had come so that was nice.  We did get some sort of sandwich….ummmmm yeah, I passed on that and ate my almonds (Beans, no not your cousin) and apples Jim had cut up that AM.  They did give us a chocolate bar that I ate part of.  The funniest part was as we were sitting in the plane the pilot got on to explain why we were sitting….and we all just looked at each other as he, named Kennedy, explained in clear English was gong on in Alamty.  We never got to see him but….we were the only ones on that plane that probably understood what he said.  (I guess it is true that pilots from the U.S. come here to fly!)  The steward came by with our “sandwich” and drink and started responding to us in English.  He lives in Kansas City though I think he is originally from Kaz.  

We got to Almaty and the same person that had picked us up in October was there waiting.  It is kind of strange because once you get your luggage (which is very easy because the “Crazy Americans” – which we have called ourselves more than once in the last month – are the only ones to check luggage) they check you to be sure you got the right luggage, and you walk through the glassed in area and there are TONS of people waiting, mostly taxi drivers, yelling “Taxi, Cab.”  And you just push through saying, “No!” and avoiding eye contact.  Our driver here had another friend with him with a VERY NICE Toyota SUV….(These are college students doing this as a side job…not a bad deal if you want my opinion but…) 

We are at the same hotel we were at last time.  Our room is BIG.  We have two rooms plus bathroom.  The space would be awesome if we are here when we come back in December BUT it is not exactly….nice.  I already have a list of things to bring back in December.  Top of the list is cleaning stuff and a sheet to put on the floor for Mr. Crawler. 

We all decided we could not sit in the room so we decided to venture out.  It was SOOO nice….SUN and 50 degrees!!  Get out the swimsuits and trunks!  (You know Jim would have shorts on if he had any with him….and it was acceptable in Kaz…)  We are in a downtown area so we walked a few blocks and came upon a coffee shop (Kaz’s answer to Starbucks!)  It was nice and the girl that took our order spoke English.  We just hung out there for a while.  We found a grocery store across the street that according to the sign, has food flown in once a week “by plane from Germany” (Yes, that is what the sign said).  We needed to at least get some water….AND they had PRETZELS!!!  First time I have seen those since October! 

We walked back to the hotel and across the street was this big yellow building we had seen when we were here in October.  We did not know what it was so Matt/Mac/Max went in to see what it was….well, it is basically an opera/performing arts center.  We waited in the line in hopes that the person at the window might speak some English to tell us what was being performed Thursday PM.  A girl in front of us turned around and finally we realized she knew what we were saying – Ahhhh she speaks English.  Pretty soon another girl waiting in line started chiming in.  They helped us talk to the woman at the window and we found out Thursday’s performance was an Italian Opera.  Oh what else do we have to do Thursday PM…so for 800 tenge (that is about $7.50) we bought tix. 

We arrived back at the hotel as we thought we were meeting someone at 6 PM.  When that did not happen, we decided to start searching for dinner….which ended up being in the dining room.  Jim and I ordered some sort of pork thing, flatbread, and potatoes – and split it.  We called it a night after that. 

On cue I woke up at 4:00 AM…..ugh!!!!  Jim wants to get to the business center this AM to check in for our flights for tomorrow and get on Google maps for directions to the US Embassy.  I almost went into shock on Wed. when we got online in the business center….ahhhh FAST INTERNET….but I do miss my in room email.  There is wireless as the “box” thing is right outside our room but we don’t know the password….although we have entertained a few possibilities that it could be!  (I think the 5 of us have been together way toooooo much the last 3 ½ weeks!!) 

We are going to try to get over to the other main hotel in Almaty to check it out today. Karri stayed there in March and said it is a little nicer.  We might try to stay there In December with the babies.  We are going to see if we can request that hotel.  We also know SOMEWHERE there is an open market…..uh oh!!  I think at this point anything else we buy will have to be swallowed to get it home….

I doubt this will get posted until Amsterdam on Friday but did not want to forget things…..